Team Rocket Executive and SORA Member Lyra
by MercifulPeaceGraceWisteria
Summary: Arc 2. Now it's time for Lyra to tell her story. Lyra thought that she was going to be just another trainer going on a journey and aiming to defeat the Indigo League, but she ended up getting caught in something much bigger than she could have ever imagined. Read as she goes from being a naive girl to becoming a part of Team Rocket. Fate is never set in stone for her.
1. Chapter 1: SORA Meeting 2

I'm back~! And guess who's still not updating her other chapter stories? That's right, me~(please don't hurt me). My followers and readers for those fics are mentally killing me as we speak! Or they probably think I abandoned the stories, sigh. Curse this procrastination/writer's block habit.

Anyway, I present to you all the second arc in this lovely series of fanfics: Lyra's!

 **REMINDER!:** This arc will most likely be shorter than Leaf's because I will be following the game's plot line. This story will be following the Soul Silver plot, since that is the one that I am more familiar with. I doubt that it is too different from the Heart Gold version, but idk.

I will also be responding to reviews for this arc and the following ones, so please feel free to ask questions or make comments that hopefully I can answer to.

And with that out of the way, let us begin! Enjoy~!

* * *

 ** _Previously..._**

"Ugh. How did six months go by so fast?"

"Well, I'm sure she caught on to some of it at least."

"We'll fill you in next time, Serena. You can then join in more in our teasing." Dahlia assured her.

She and Rosa left on a Swanna and Unfeazant, respectively.

Dawn waved at Serena before she left on a Staraptor.

Serena sighed. It seems like the next meeting was going to be a hectic one for sure. Then even she left on the back of her Noivern.

 ** _Now..._**

The girls were meeting in Johto once more for their meeting.

"This is absolutely gorgeous!"

The meeting place this time was at a lovely Ecruteak restaurant that had an open air gazebo, with reservation of course, for the guests to meet and eat lunch. The girls were admiring the beautiful wooden structure that was painted white to contrast the Cherry Blossom trees that were in full bloom surrounding them.

"Excellent choice Lyra."

"Thank you, Milady!"

The girls were seated around the wooden table and sharing Ecruteakean delicacies among themselves.

"Although we could have done without the entourage..."

There was a crowd of people that were being held behind the restaurant. Many people were screaming out their names as if they were A-list celebrities (in a sense they were...). In fact, the restaurant had called up bodyguards to surround the area so that the girls would not be bothered. They would wave pleasantly at them, which enticed more cheers from the group of people gathered at the front of the restaurant.

"Well...at least they're far enough so that they don't bother us too much."

"Can't really hear what we're saying anyway."

"That's true."

"So Serena, did you enjoy our little chat?" Dahlia asked the new member.

-Earlier-

 _"Our lovely Grand Duchess is admired by so many~! It was honestly so hard-"_

 _"-super time consuming honestly-" Dawn added._

 _"-trying to pick out someone worthy of her. I mean she's our Grand Duchess right? No_ boy _will ever be good enough for her. Or girl for that matter, we don't judge. Anyway, a man-or woman-is the only one worthy of standing at her side. So we were completely ecstatic when we heard from Indigo that our Grand Duchess was reconciling with Red!" Dahlia squealed._

 _"You don't mean Red Satoshi? The Red Satoshi?" Serena asked._

 _"BUT of course I mean Red Satoshi!"_

 _"I know he and Lady Leaf were mending their ties with one another, but they already have a romantic sort of relationship?"_

 _"Well...no, but get this! Tell her Dawn!" Dahlia eagerly flapped her hand at the Galactic Commander._

 _"Right. My friend Cynthia, who is also the champion of the Sinnoh region, tells me that she saw Leaf kiss his cheek and that he looked at her like a fool in love after she left...or so she said."_

 _Serena gasped._

 _"That Red is clearly one of the very few that could possibly stand by her side. He's already wealthy and famous, so the threat of him using her is nonexistent. He's more than capable of standing toe-to-toe with her on the battlefield now and has become extremely compassionate towards his pokémon and_ _pokémon in general_ _. He clearly also has some interest in Miss Leaf if that night at the Indigo League was any indicator." Rosa said._

 _"But not only is our Grand Duchess of interest, but so are..."_

 _-_ Back to the meeting-

"Ah..." A slight reddening was visible on Serena's cheeks.

"What chat?"

"Oh, nothing. Just a small talk I had with Serena before the meeting." Dahlia assured.

The girls hummed suspiciously given Dahlia's smirk, but said nothing more.

"Well...Lyra, I suppose now would be a good time as ever to begin telling your story." Leaf said.

"Right! Well, my story goes a little something like this..."

* * *

Onto the reviews from the Bonus Story!

 _mocasiotorres27_ : You are so welcome. I'm glad you liked the one-shot~.

 _Mizhera_ : No worries about not reviewing! Some people just don't like to, and that's perfectly fine. I just get a bit unmotivated when people don't respond because I feel that the story I am writing isn't that interesting. But thank you for actually doing so~! And thank you for the praise ^w^. Hopefully these other arcs will be just as fulfilling!

 _fluffpenguin_ : *giggle* I might be tempted to write more, depending on how much people want more and how willing I am to write.

 _the willyrex_ : Phew! Thank goodness I wrote something good. Honestly, when I looked back at the fic, I thought that I missed the mark, but thankfully I didn't. And I present to you the second arc or series and hopefully this one will be satisfying too.


	2. Chapter 2: Surprise Findings

I will attempt to provide the first chapter into the arc along with the respective meeting on the same day. So here you go!

Note: I do not know about anyone else, but I usually raise my Pokémon to level 10 before I have my first battle with my rival. I know that it takes some of the thrill away from your first battle and being able to fight on even terms, but yeah. I also know that in some games that isn't an option, but I will always raise my Pokémon if I can. As such, I will also be following that rule here. To keep all fairness though, I will also make Silver's Pokémon stronger as well to keep it even.

Enjoy~!

* * *

"Please choose a Pokémon." Prof. Elm gestured to the three Pokéballs next to him.

Lyra gazed in awe at the three spheres in front of her, each of them containing a different rare Pokémon.

'They're all so cute…I can't decide…' Lyra's brow furrowed.

"Hmmm…I choose…that one!" Lyra pointed at a random ball. Prof. Elm picked up the Pokéball and presented it to her.

"Here you go. Chikorita here is a lively one, but she is rather docile. Excellent choice for a beginner," Prof. Elm commented as he placed the ball in her hand. Lyra then clipped the Pokéball to her belt.

Prof. Elm then gently grabbed the item from its incubator and handed it to Lyra. "Please deliver this to Mr. Pokémon and hear what he has to say about it. Thanks for the help, Lyra!" he smiled.

"No problem!" she replied with a grin. Chikorita was trailing diligently behind her.

Lyra eagerly left the lab to tell her mom about her mission before heading off towards Cherry Grove City.

Still, she thought, there was something that didn't sit right with her as she left.

She swore that she saw something in the window of the lab…

After meeting with Mr. Pokémon, Lyra was delighted to figure out that the item she currently held in her hands was an actual Pokémon egg. Who knows what could hatch out of it? Not only that, but she also got a pokedex from the one and only Prof. Oak! All sorts of amazing things were happening to her today.

Just before she could leave Cherry Grove to head back to New Bark, she was stopped by a sharp voice.

"Hey, you!"

Instinctually, Lyra paused and turned to see a boy. He appeared to be on the taller side, easily besting her 163 cm (5 ft 4 in) frame she noticed with an inward pout. He had striking red hair and wore dark clothing – a black jacket bordered by red and dark purple pants.

'Isn't he hot in that get up?' Lyra asked herself mentally. Even though there was a cool breeze flowing, it was still too hot to be wearing a thick jacket and long pants.

Different styles for different wiles she supposed.

"Yes?"

"You just got that Pokémon from the lab at Prof. Elm's right?"

Lyra nodded slowly.

He smirked evilly. "Then I challenge you to a battle. Right here and now."

"E-eh?" Lyra stuttered.

"You heard me."

Lyra's gaze flickered towards her back where the egg now lay before making eye-contact with her Chikorita. It seemed really eager to battle. She knew she had to tell Prof. Elm about the discovery of the egg, but she was just too excited about having her very first Pokémon battle.

"O-okay!"

"Go! Totodile!" he threw the ball as far as possible. A small blue gator Pokémon jumped up to call out its name excitedly.

"Let's go Chikorita!" Lyra called her Pokémon forward. Chikorita growled cutely and its eyes held a determined spark in them.

"Hmph. Use Scratch!"

"Dodge! And use Tackle!"

"Water Gun!"

Chikorita was blasted away by the sharp burst of water, but easily shook it off thanks to its type advantage.

"Razor Leaf!"

"Tch. Keep going. Use Scratch."

"Use Tackle!"

Given that Chikorita's attack was a full bodied one compared to Totodile's, it was still able to land a hit, rather than simply parrying the attack.

Chikorita tossed Totodile back onto the ground.

Lyra emerged victorious due to her Chikorita's final Tackle, as it leapt forward to deal the final hit.

Totodile laid tiredly on the ground, fainted.

"Tch. Still too weak. I'll defeat you next time." The boy promised as he began to walk away.

Lyra stared after him as he left and before she noticed something on the ground.

"Hey! Wait up!" she said as she bent down to pick the item up.

"No." He continued walking, not even glancing backwards.

"You forgot your trainer card!... Is this really your name?"

The boy instantly did a one-eighty before he ran up to her and snatched the card out of her hand.

"Don't read my stuff!" he yelled before he sprinted off.

"Silver huh? Wonder what kind of parents would name their kid after a metal…" Lyra thought mentally.

As it turned out, once Lyra returned to the lab, Silver had actually stolen Totodile from the professor. She was about to get arrested for that before Prof. Elm assured them that it wasn't her, seeing as she had a Chikorita and not the stolen Totodile. The officer then was going to arrest her for stealing Chikorita until Prof. Elm explained once more that he had willingly given her the Chikorita. The officer seemed rather put off and questioned her until Lyra had given him Silver's name.

Needless to say, she would now be wary of the crimson-haired boy (and the police…never thought she'd ever think that).

In brighter news, Prof. Elm was surprised to know that the object he entrusted Lyra with was a Pokémon egg and completely amazed to know that Prof. Oak had given her a pokedex.

"That's amazing! Prof. Oak has great intuition when he gives someone a pokedex!" Prof. Elm said excitedly. "He gave only two away so far: one to his grandson and the other to a son of his colleague. His grandson was the former champion of the Indigo League and is now the gym leader of Viridian City in Kanto. The other is none other than Red Satoshi himself!"

Lyra's eyes widened hugely. "Wow!" She was awestruck.

She had heard stories about the greatest trainers to have ever existed in the Pokémon world. Green S. Oak was a renounced Pokémon trainer. It seemed that he very easily was able to obtain 10 gym badges in the span of six months before challenging the league and defeating it on his first try. He was soon dethroned by his rival though and remained as the Viridian gym leader after the previous disappeared due to mysterious circumstances...Anyway, it seemed that he was well on his way to becoming a member of the Elite Four since Koga was considering retiring back to helping in the Fuchsia Gym with his daughter.

Red Satoshi was so much more. He was held with such high reverence even in the much older adults and members of the Elite Four. Not only was he known in Kanto and Johto, but in all the other regions as well. Legend has it that he had met with Mewtwo and gained its respect. Mew was said to enjoy Red's company and would appear to the ebony haired teen. It was also said that he has connections to the legendary bird trio and has ridden each at least twice. Red was the trainer that every Pokémon trainer idolized and aspired to be, even if that dream was far out of anyone's reach.

And Lyra was chosen to carry the same item as those two.

"And I'm sure that since he gave you that pokedex that you are also destined for greatness too Lyra. I knew I saw something amazing in you!" he smiled.

Lyra turned red at the praise.

"Remember to inform your mom that you're going off on a journey and here's my phone number just in case. Also, Lyra, I'd like to entrust you with the egg."

"Really?"

"Eggs hatch sooner if taken on walks alongside trainers. I'm afraid I am too busy to dedicate enough time to walk with this egg and I'm sure you'll get that egg to hatch in no time Lyra. Just call me and let me see it once it hatches. I'm curious to see what kind of Pokémon it is!"

"Alright then! Bye Professor!"

"Have fun on your journey!"

* * *

Welp. That's it for now. I wonder how everyone thinks this story will go...

Reviews keep me writing.

Other new reviews:

Leaf's Arc

 _Guest (anonymous):_ I'm so glad that you loved Leaf's arc! Truly honored to hear you say that. Honestly, I am so insecure with my writing, so it always makes me extremely happy to hear such praise! ^w^ Sorry the arc had to end so quick, but if I am enticed enough, I might feel like continuing some of these arcs after I am done with all of them. We'll just have to see how it goes!

 _Mizhera_ : So much thanks for the review and kind words! :D


	3. Chapter 3: Traveling and Revealing

Hello once again! It's me~! Sorry for the delay!

A special thanks is dedicated to last chapter's reviewer _Anya5544_ ~! Thank you so much for your kind words!

And I present you all the next chapter to the 2nd arc! Enjoy~!

* * *

 _'Prof. Elm must have a lot of trust in you to give you that Pokémon Egg.' The Kimono Girl lifted her hand elegantly unfurrowing her fan, using it to partially hide her face._

 _She gazed straight into Lyra's eyes, searching for something. But for what, Lyra couldn't tell._

 _It seems that she found it, for she sharply closed the fan in her hands and gave her a slight smile. '_ _Very well!_ _I shall also place my trust in you. Take good care of that egg. I'm sure it will hatch into a very special Pokémon. Farewell, young one.' The Kimono Girl turned with a flourish and daintily began to walk away from her._

The memory played vividly in the back of Lyra's head as she watched the egg in her arms shake furiously. The Pokémon inside was ready to come out.

She hastily placed the beaker on the ground and lifted the glass from the top allowing the egg to quiver and shake until a bright light enveloped the egg.

"It's hatching!" Lyra squeaked excitedly. Her Bayleef cheered as it strutted around the duo, eagerly awaiting the arrival of its new friend.

The light faded until all that was left was a cute Pokémon with blunt spikes jutting out of the top of its head. The shell of the egg encased the Pokémon's body, leaving only chubby round feet and tiny, stubby arms visible to Lyra.

"I've never seen this kind of Pokémon before…" Lyra quickly took out her pokedex.

"Togepi…the spike-balll Pokémon…Its shell is filled with happy feelings…So it's a being of happiness! That's awesome!"

Bayleef approached Togepi and nudged it gently with its head. The happiness Pokémon chirped happily as it was cuddled.

Lyra crouched down to pick up Togepi in her arms. It gazed at her curiously. Lyra smiled.

"It's nice to meet you Togepi. I hope we can be friends!"

Togepi cooed happily and let itself rest comfortably in her arms, eager to see the world it was born into.

Her Togepi hatched just in time to arrive at Goldenrod City.

* * *

"No! No! NO!" Whitney screamed. "Come back later and battle against me with my level 71 Milktank and level 65 Furret! If you beat me then, I might give you a badge." Whitney huffed.

"But I…can't beat a level 65 right now…"

"Well too bad!" Whitney pulled down the skin under her eye. "Guess that means no Gym Badge for you!" she finished by sticking out her tongue.

"Whitney! You know the rules! You can only use these Pokémon when fighting against trainers with only two badges!" One of the Gym Trainers chided.

"I refuse to give a gym badge to this this third-rate trainer!" Whitney said as she turned away from the two other girls. "'sides, she made me cry…" Tears began to pour down the pink-haired Gym Leader's face.

"Whitney," the Gym Trainer sighed, "she did not make you cry, you just started crying right now."

One of the Gym Trainers sighed as she directed Lyra away from the ring while the first Gym Trainer talked to Whitney. "I'm sorry about her. Whitney just hasn't been the same in the last five years…Don't worry. The Gym Trainer with Whitney has known her longer than any of us, so I'm sure she can convince Whitney to give you the badge."

"Okay. Thank you."

Whitney's voice was loud enough to be carried over to where Lyra was waiting.

"OH how would you know anyway! You didn't even see the battle! All you lot abandoned me either way and now I get treated this way! ...This is all her fault! I swear when I see her again, I'm going to destroy her…" Whitney spoke, venom dripping from her words.

"Miss Whitney seems really upset…" Lyra spoke softly.

"Yes." The Gym Trainer spoke. "Ever since Whitney lost the battle against this one trainer those five years ago, she's been more volatile than anyone had ever thought she was even capable of. It seemed that this trainer had gained the affections of another trainer that Whitney had set her sights on. Whitney was absolutely outraged. So she had challenged her to a battle."

The Gym Trainer paused.

"Any finishing move that Whitney tried to make against the trainer failed epically. Even when Whitney had the unfair advantage by using six Pokémon instead of what was supposed to be only two, the trainer had allowed it, keeping to her two Pokémon, and she still beat Whitney."

"That trainer must have been amazing." Lyra couldn't help but be amazed at the image.

"She was. She is the only trainer to this day who has not lost a single Pokémon to a battle against Whitney. Not only that, but the battle was somewhat public, so quite a bit of people had seen Whitney's underhanded battling. Whitney was then stripped of her title of Johto's Cutest and Most Wanted Girl. The title had been given to Miss Jasmine, another Gym Leader, instead."

"That must have been hard for Miss Whitney…"

"It was…"

* * *

Lyra gazed on as she finally arrived in Ecruteak City. The two towers instantly drew in her attention.

"Wow…" Her Bayleef mimicked her awe in its own way.

Currently, Lyra's party has extended to include a gifted Eevee from Bill.

The elderly couple she met on the road before reaching Goldenrod City was very kind to take care of any of Lyra's Pokémon. They remarked on how they have a grandson of the same age, but that he was away on an errand and she had just missed him. He too had also received a Pokémon from Prof. Elm. At first she thought that their grandson was that thief Silver, but soon threw away the idea when they mentioned it was a Cyndaquil. Besides, she figured that the grandson of the elderly couple would never be so cruel to their Pokémon.

"To the gym!" Lyra yelled. Bayleef cheered along.

At the same moment, her stomach growled.

She sweated. She was too busy trying to help Goldenrod City against Team Rocket, that she had forgotten to eat before challenging them.

"I guess it would be better to go eat over at the Pokémon Center…"

After finishing a nice warm meal at the Pokémon Center, Lyra went over to the gym.

"A ghost-type gym, huh?"

Lyra was thinking of clearing this gym with mainly her Eevee and Togepi. Even though the two were normal types, her Eevee knew Bite and her Togepi could use Metronome.

She wasn't really looking forward to this battle. Lyra feared the mischievous Pokémon type. This was mainly due to a childhood incident where she got lost in the woods and a bunch of Ghastly and a Haunter disappeared from far away and then phased in - right in front of her face. She couldn't sleep for a week with the lights off after that.

Still, she walked over to the doors with trembling legs. That's when she noticed someone standing in front of the doors.

Lyra hung her head as soon as she stopped in front of the doors and let out a long breath. It was both a relief and a disappointment all at once.

Before the person at the door could say anything, Lyra spoke.

"Let me guess: the gym leader is out. Seeing as how he is a ghost-type trainer, it's more likely than not that he's at the burned tower and won't be back until later."

The person at the door gave her a sympathetic nod.

Lyra sighed.

"You know the burned tower has lots of wild Pokémon running around. Maybe you could get some training in and perhaps meet up with Morty and convince him to come back to the gym for a battle?"

"Sure, I guess I could use the extra training, just in case." Lyra seemed thoughtful as she exited the premises. Maybe she could use this time to conquer her fear slowly. After all, she had her Pokémon with her this time.

She thanked the person before heading towards the Burned Tower.

The looming, creaky building was true to its name. Lyra couldn't help but to let out small shrieks as she heard the Rattata scurry across the wooden boards. Luckily, it was still morning. She might have fainted had she come across a Ghastly, especially at night.

'Slow and steady…' Lyra spoke to herself as she took the first few steps inside.

Just then, a Ghastly phased in from the shadows of the burned tower and stuck it's tongue out at her, cackling all the while.

'Or maybe not!' she mentally screamed.

Lyra instantly turned tail and ran out.

* * *

So, how was it? Please let me know! Reviews motivate people to type and update.

 _Guest:_ Well, I'm not really sure what you are referring to...do you mean other stories that you've read or my previous arc? If you mean other stories, then I hope so! Sometimes it's nice to get hit with a little curveball and be given a different perspective. If you mean my previous arc, then I apologize because my Team Rocket will most likely tend to stay the same.

 _Anya5544_ : Thank you so much for your support~! You are amazing! There is nothing more meaningful to an author than getting awesome reviews and you my friend, are one of those awesome reviewers. So, thanks! ^w^ I hope to meet your expectations for this story and I hope to hear from you later~!


	4. Chapter 4: A Series of Towers

Hi! How is everyone doing? Here's the next update, ready for reading (hopefully...). Thank you for your continued support with this story.

Enjoy~!

* * *

Lyra quickly decided that she wasn't going to risk 'meeting' another ghost and went off to train at the nearby route.

After that nightmare had passed, she decided to take her chances and return to the Burned Tower. Going to the tower mid-day was an excellent idea considering that all the ghost types had been gone by that time, so the only things that were left were the sounds of scurrying Rattatta and Raticate across the pillars and floors every now and then. All she really had to do was avoid any of the shadowy areas of the open floors.

After a really long week training herself against her fear, she decided to do the ultimate test: go into the tower at night.

Ever so slowly, Lyra had taken a few cautious steps into the tower.

"Well...once you get used to this place, it's not so bad..." Lyra nervously laughed.

"Is that so?" a voice said as she felt a hand fall on her shoulder.

Lyra was about to let out a high pitched shriek, but a hand clamped over her mouth as well.

"Shhh! We don't want to scare them away!"

With the breaking of the clouds letting in the moonlight, Lyra was able to see that it was an odd-looking man that had his hands clamped on her person. He had a purple suit on with a white cape on his shoulders. He had gloves on at least.

"Don't want to scare who?"

"The legendary trio!" he cheered quietly. "Just look below to the bottom floor!"

He pointed over to the break in the floor, where the hanging floorboards were the most precarious.

"Huh? I have to go over there?!" she choked.

"Don't worry It's safe...probably. Oh, who cares? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for regular people! Who cares if you get injured? It'll be worth it, I am sure."

The man then began to push her towards the opening. Lyra planted her feet against the floor, but the man was surprisingly strong, and her feet only created a slight drag on the floor against the force of his hands across her back.

"Eusine? What are you doing?" a voice called out from the distance.

"Ah, hey! Come over here! Help me convince this girl to have the opportunity of a lifetime! She doesn't want to go see the legendary trio!"

Just then a Haunter popped up in front of her, making her squeak. She pulled Eusine in front of her in front of her and hid beneath his cape, quivering. Not again! She was re-living her childhood fears once more!

"Hey, it's just Haunter! Don't be rude." Eusine said while tugging on his cape, which Lyra held tight in her hands. After a few tugs, he gave up.

"I apologize for that. Haunter can be a bit mischievous." a voice said.

Lyra was hidden beneath Eusine's cape, so all she could see were a pair of black, purple, and red shoes stop in front of where she was hidden. She opened up the cape slowly, revealing white pants, a striped black long-sleeve shirt and then a purple scarf with torn ends dyed red. The scarf also had a golden orb-like pin on the front, and finally she finally looked up to see the face of the man who had just had unruly blond hair, which he tamed (sort of) with a purple headband.

"Uh-um, who-who are you?" Lyra timidly spoke, still mostly hidden by Eusine's cape.

Eusine was shocked."Don't you watch pokémon battles on your free time or something? Look at a magazine? Read the Johto Trainer's Manual?"

"Um, no?"

"Honestly, this girl..." Eusine shook his head.

"It's alright, Eusine." the guy said with a slight smile on his face.

"My name is Morty. I am the Ecruteak City Gym Leader."

"Oh!" Lyra stood up and flung the cape from her person. "Sorry I didn't recognize you!" she said, bowing her head.

"It's fine." Morty waved off.

"I hope to have a gym battle with you, so..."

Morty was thinking about how much the girl resembled a shy little Misdreavus (she was as cute as one...) hiding underneath his friend's cloak to really process what she was saying. And it seemed that Eusine knew his thoughts because his eyebrow rose high into his hairline and a smirk graced his features.

He rolled his eyes at his friend.

Lyra, of course, was oblivious to the exchange.

With additional coaxing from Morty, Lyra decided to go see the legendary trio on the bottom floor. Using the stairs, not leaning over a precarious edge like Eusine suggested. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, however, it seemed that the trio could sense her presence when she reached the center of the room where they had settled. Entei and Raiku had bounded off immediately, but Suicune had paused to assess her before it too leapt off into the early hours of the dawn.

"Wow." Lyra stood in shock for a moment before she climbed back up the stairs.

"Ugh! You scared Suicune! I told you to just look over the edge, but nooo! You had to get scared." Eusine sighed. "Well, gotta go, old friend. I must pursue Suicune!"

And Eusine bolted off.

Lyra turned to face the other man and Morty gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Eusine just really likes Suicune."

"Yeah...I kind of got that..." Lyra trailed off. "What about you? Do you like Suicune too?"

Morty lifted his arm to cradle the back of his head. "Well, not really. To be honest, out of the three of them, I am more interested in Entei...but then again, Raiku is an amazing pokémon as well. Still, I don't think I'm as...fond as them as Eusine is."

"More like obsessed." Lyra giggled.

She didn't see how the gym leader became a bit more flustered at the sound of her laugh.

"We-well, anyway, if you're interested, you can come challenge me at my gym when you're ready."

"Thank you very much!"

"I-I'll leave you to your training then."

The gym was one of her worst fears personified (well, that and a dream about a bag of rice and a pikachu, but that was neither here nor there...). It was bad enough that she was walking down a dubious looking pathway, but there were also old ladies that wait in the dark demanding a match. Her heart stopped almost instantly when the candles the old women had would go off after she had won a challenge. Along with that was the imminent threat that one wrong step and she would fall into a swirling pit of despair (black hole) that would somehow transport her back to the entrance. If she wasn't so scared, she was sure she would be confused out of her mind.

Still, she managed to overcome her fears and defeated Morty. In a celebratory mood, she decided to treat herself when she got back to her hotel room.

All her hard work wound up paying off when she had received her shiny new badge, which she placed with the uttermost care into her case.

Unfortunately, Lyra never really noticed how much attention she got from the leader all the way from the time she first met him at the tower with his eccentric friend, to when she had defeated him. The poor man was absolutely destroyed when she didn't see him as anything other than a good sparring companion, but what can anyone do? (He was undeterred, however...)

Anyway, Lyra was merrily skipping down the road to the next city when she crashed into the red-haired teen.

"Ah-,"

"She's not at the gym. I'm bailing." He said as he walked away. "Had to go to the lighthouse to take care of some stupid sick pokémon. Useless." the rest of it was spoken to lowly for her to hear.

'He really has to learn that an inner monologue is a called an inner monologue for a reason…' she thought. 'See, just like I am doing right now. Ooooh~!" she giggled.

Still, she decided that she wouldn't be as easily deterred as Silver was and decided to train a bit more before she went over to the lighthouse to visit the sick lighthouse pokémon and see Jasmine, the gym leader.

Still, there was this feeling in her that told her something was going to go wrong...

* * *

Oh lord. There will probably be a bit of tension beginning to brew in the next chapter...maybe...

 _Mizhera:_ Ah, no worries about reviewing. Just me being demanding 'cause I am horrible at motivating myself. Especially with chapter stories. As to Lyra and Ethan meeting in the future...well, thats an idea I am toying around with and you'll have to keep reading to see if I decide to have them meet ;) . And yup, our lovely protagonist for the previous arc was the mentioned "evil-doer" that stripped Whitney of her title. I hope to update a bit quicker this time since I will be starting school once more. I don't like school, but it's the only way I am able to keep myself working instead of doing nothing all day.

 _the willyrex_ : I took forever to update. A million apologies. I just had several issues that required my attention and were more important than writing, so unfortunately I had to leave this aside until I fixed them. Also, I had already finished Leaf's arc before I began posting the chapters to FF, while with Lyra's arc, I'm kind of working at it as I update, so it takes longer for me to update the chapters. Still, I'm sorry for keeping you in suspense for so long! DX.

Again, I'm trying to keep with the theme of keeping people in gray areas and making them "living" characters not just one is bad indefinitely and the other good. I'm kind of glad that the idea worked, so thanks for mentioning Whitney. And yes, she is rather petty and conceited. And, ah yes, the long-standing debate of whether Ethan and Lyra will meet sometime in the story...well, I have to give you the same answer: you'll have to wait and see. I want to play with their characters a bit more and see how well the two would compliment each other before I make a decision.

Hope to see you read and review again~! ^w^


	5. Chapter 5: At the Lighthouse

Here I am once again. I can't believe I actually managed to update so quickly. Gasp! Anyway...I hope you all enjoy this next chapter in the arc!

 **IMPORTANT NOTE:** Oh, and I also have to warn you that this is where I deviate slightly from the game's (SoulSilver's at least) plotline.

Enjoy~!

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Lyra gazed at the sunset as she stood on the balcony of the lighthouse. The view was absolutely beautiful from where she was standing. Her (main) faithful companion during the lighthouse battles, Vulpix, called out in awe as it too saw the fading sun disappear behind the mountains.

"C'mon, Vulpix. We're almost to the top!" she cheered her cute little fox on. She then did a little jump before walking back into the lighthouse. Vulpix let out an excited growl as it bounded of towards its trainer.

After clearing what was left of the lighthouse, Lyra climbed up the last set of stairs with her Vulpix riding in the hood of her sweater.

Lyra peaked her head through the opening in the floor and was presented with a circular glass wall around the middle of the room, which she was inside of. She heard a soft wheeze and turned her head to see a sickly-looking Ampharos and a beautiful girl attempting to comfort it.

"Um, excuse me, are you Jasmine? I-"

"Listen, I can't battle right now. Amphy here is sick and I can't afford to leave here alone," the girl huffed. "I'm really sorry, but why don't you just go to Kanto to get another badge? I heard that the league is accepting 8 badges from either or both regions."

"Um, actually I was wondering if there was some way I could help?" Lyra said, timidly.

"You want to help? That would be wonderful!" Jasmine smiled. "I will battle you afterwards if we manage to help Amphy."

"Great! My name is Lyra." Lyra grinned back.

She looked at the sickly pokémon and approached slowly as not to startle it. It looked at her with a sad expression, but didn't seem too hostile towards her. Perhaps it would let her touch it?

"What are you-?" Jasmine started.

Lyra pet its side as gently as she could. It cooed a little before coughing, but it still snuggled into her touch and sighed.

Lyra smiled as she turned towards Jasmine, but for whatever reason, Jasmine had a look of betrayal on her face.

"Um, Miss Jasmine?"

The auburn-haired woman turned to the younger brunette with a much tighter smile.

"Please don't touch Amphy. I am the only one that can get close to him." she said almost threateningly.

"Um, right. Sorry." Lyra quickly said as she took a few steps back.

Jasmine spoke without tearing her eyes from Amphy, which was lying in her arms. "The only thing that could possibly heal Amphy now is a Secret Medicine that is only made in Cinnabar Island. Luckily though, I ordered a shipment to be delivered. But apparently, the shipment was delivered to the wrong location and is now in Cianwood City. I need you to go get it while I take care of Amphy. Can you do that?"

"Um, well..."

"What is it?"

"I never got the HM for Surf, so..."

Jasmine sighed. "I can't exactly call a boat over to take you since we're so busy this time of year and no leftover boats are available. I'll have to make an appointment with one of the sailors to take you there."

"I'm sorry about that."

"It's fine." The way she said it made it seem like it was not fine.

Just then, Lyra's pokégear rang.

"Huh, I wonder who that is?" Lyra said as she answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hello, Lyra?"

"Yes?"

"It's Morty."

"Oh, Morty, hi..." Lyra said with surprise. Jasmine too seemed shocked as she turned to look at Lyra. "How did you get my number?"

"I asked the Professor for it. I know that you need the HM for Surf, but the guy who was handing them out went out for a trip, so just tell me where you are, so I can give it to you."

"Oh, wow! Thank you so much! I'm actually in Olivine City right now." Jasmine gestured for Lyra to hand her pokégear over.

"Great. I'll see you there."

"Um, could you hold on? Miss-er, Jasmine wants to speak to you."

"What? Um, alright."

Lyra passed the phone to Jasmine, who snatched it from her grasp none too gently.

"Morty. Hello. It's nice to hear from you again." she spoke politely, a soft lilt in her voice that wasn't there when she spoke to Lyra. "Yes, Amphy is sick. I was wondering if it were possible for you to help us?"

She nodded as she heard what he said, her eyes flickered to Lyra once before focusing once more on the conversation.

"I see. Thank you for the help." she ended the call and returned Lyra's pokégear back to her.

"It seems that Morty will arrive on the Lighthouse's balcony with the HM for Surf. I will go down to the balcony and get it myself to give to you. Please wait here." she said, tone gentler. She seemed to be lighter and a soft blush was on her face.

"Um, but Miss Jasmine?"

"What is it?"

"I thought you said that Amphy could not be allowed alone and he would only let you get close to him. Besides, wouldn't it be easier if I just get it myself? That way I can get the medicine faster and Amphy can be cured quickly."

The air that Jasmine seemed to be floating on disappeared.

"Right. Of course. I will stay here with Amphy. Please hurry. And don't take to long speaking to Morty or anyone else. Amphy's health is the main priority." Jasmine ordered.

"Yes! Of course, ma'am!" Lyra stiffened at Jasmine's tone. She couldn't help the impulsive salute to the older girl.

"Good. I'll let you get to it then." Jasmine sighed and turned her attention back to Amphy, who appeared to be flailing a bit in her arms.

"I'll be back as soon as I can!" Lyra called out as she walked down the ladder.

"Please hurry."

"I will!"

Lyra huffed as her feet landed on the ground. She put Vulpix on the floor and the two exited onto the balcony once more.

"Hey Vulpix..."

Vulpix turned up to look at its trainer.

"You don't think she hates me do you? She seemed really mad at me for some reason..."

Vulpix merely tilted its head at her.

"Of course!" Lyra hit her forehead with the palm of her hand.

Anyone with ears and eyes would know why Lyra was so upset with her. It doesn't take that much to be able to put the puzzle pieces together. Honestly. Lyra couldn't help but laugh at herself for her obliviousness.

"It's so clear why Jasmine was so mad with me!"

Lyra nodded to herself. She'd be mad too if someone had done the same to her.

Vulpix yelped at her.

Lyra turned to her small fox friend.

"See Vulpix, the reason why she's so mad is because Morty had called me instead of her. If he had called her instead, Jasmine wouldn't have been so mad!"

Vulpix nodded.

"If he had called her instead, Miss Jasmine could have just asked him to get her the medicine instead and she wouldn't have had to ask me to go get it! Amphy would be healed a lot quicker and she could go back to her duties as a gym leader. She obviously looks tense, cooped up in the lighthouse. She's so nice to drop everything she has going on to help a sick pokémon. Wow. She must really love pokémon!" Lyra's eyes glittered with pride.

Vulpix huffed. It seems her trainer still was a bit clueless.

"Well, I just gotta wait for Morty to give me the HM, so I can get on my way! I won't let her or Amphy down! I'll prove to her that I'm just as reliable as Morty!"

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Mmmm. Lyra is still a bit out of it when it comes to people's feelings. Oh well.

Response to Reviews:

 _Mizhera:_ *giggles* Thank you so much for your support! Lyra is one of the sweeter and more naive girls out of the SORA group and I wanted to let that show in her arc. And along with that comes her obliviousness. Gosh, look at me trying to hit the cliches. *shakes my head* Anyway, yes, Morty likes Lyra quite a bit and he makes another brief appearance in this chapter as well. And Eusine is being Eusine, of course. Silver is a moody pre-teen. He doesn't know how to get rid of all that tension he has going on with his life both in the XD way and the T^T way.

Also, thank you so much for being so understanding~. I'll try not to leave you in suspense for too long! I am basically updating for you guys XD. Sometimes I refuse to update without a review. (I'm so mean). So you guys are helping everyone else who doesn't review for quicker updates! :D

 _the willyrex:_ I didn't want to be forgetful like last time, so I will try to update a little more quicker than the (roughly) monthly updates I got going on. It will also take me forever to finish this story and the following arcs. Thank you so much for your understanding~. And I hope that you're doing awesome in school! Good luck on your tests! x

Yes, our adorable little Lyra is the counter, yet perfect fit for the much more stoic Team Rocket Leader, Leaf. Lyra is much more open with her emotions and a lot more clueless to the subtle messages between people. Leaf is the opposite with her being more aware of the subtle feelings people try to hide, but less willing to express herself. They balance each other out for the most part. And thank you so much for your continued support!


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